Meet The Production Team

Mr. Nick Marinello, Drama DirectorNick is currently in his 5th year of teaching at Chippewa Valley High School. Nick has been an actor nearly all of his life. Starting at age 7 in a Grosse Pointe War Memorial Production of Raggedy Ann and Andy, Nick has been on stage in some form over the last 28 years. Nick is an active member of Grosse Pointe Theater and has done work with the Fine Arts Society as well as Birmingham Players. It was his love of acting that inspired Nick to restart the Drama program at Chippewa. In 2015, Nick began teaching Theater Arts I and Theater Arts II and with the help of some amazing "founding mothers" he began Chippewa Valley Theater. The "Valley Players" have staged two productions so far and are planning to expand to three shows in 2017-2018. Being able to work with students every day in the theater is a privilege that Nick enjoys immensely.

Ms. Olivia Ferguson, Rehearsal Accompanist & KeyboardBachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Michigan State University in 2010, and her Master of Music degree in the same area from the University of Wisconsin in 2013. Olivia has sung the roles of Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Michigan State Opera Theatre, 2009) and Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Opera Orvieto, 2012), as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Michigan State University Chorale, 2010, Seminário Baptista do Cariri, Brazil, 2012), and in various other opera scenes, chamber concerts, and solo recitals. Her favorite composers for the voice are Henry Purcell, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Libby Larsen. She loves cross-cultural opportunity and has sung in such varied places as Chongqing, China; Vienna, Austria; and Crato, CE, Brazil. She has taught private voice lessons since 2007 and has served as a voice teacher the past two summers at the annual “Week of Music” at the Cariri Baptist Seminary in Crato, Brazil. Olivia loves helping students of various ages develop their voices.

Olivia studied piano formally through her freshman year of college, and has played piano for 20 years. She has accompanied singers at both MSU and UW, and has worked as an accompanist for soloists and choirs in middle and high schools for the past 5 years. In addition to teaching and playing professionally, she participates in adult and children’s music ministries at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hazel Park, MI.

Mr. James Pecar, Vocal Music Director/ProducerJAMES PECAR is currently in his sixtth year as Director of Choirs at Chippewa Valley High School. James graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’s of Music Education - Vocal, cum laude, from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. While there, James was the recipient of the “Outstanding Music Educator Award”, conducted several university ensembles, and was founding director of the award-winning Hat Trick, an A Cappella men’s ensemble. James also started the A Cappella for Autism initiative with Hat Trick which has allowed for multiple donations from Hat Trick to the Macomb Chapter of the Autism Society of America. He also served as president of the student ACDA Chapter. He has studied with Dr. Andrew Larson, Dr. Peter Durow, Dr. Shelby Milburn Price, and Dr. Alain Raines. He has coordinated tours for two international choral ensembles: The Imuka Singers and the Nairobi Chamber Chorus. He currently sings with the Grammy-Winning U of M Choral Union under Dr. Jerry Blackstone. He is a member of Kappa Delta Pi (International Honor Society in Education), Omicron Delta Kappa (National Collegiate Honors Society), ACDA, MSVMA, and NAfME.​

​Ms. Melissa Peters, ChoreographerMelissa has been choreographing fun and exciting musical theater numbers since she was in high school herself. She has performed professionally in the touring company production Forever Swing starring Michael Buble and continues to appear in local productions. Helping schools provide students the opportunity to engage in fun and creative musical's has been a passion for many years. The arts are so important and helping students learn the skills of dancing and performing has been a wonderful experience.